What does a marketing consultant actually do?

"Marketing consultant" gets used to describe about six different jobs, so let's clear it up.

A marketing consultant isn't a mini agency, and they're not a single freelancer who only does one thing. The clue is in the word; consultant. It means someone senior enough to look at your whole business, work out what's actually going to move the needle, and then either do that work themselves or bring in the right specialist to do it properly.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

• Working out what you actually need before recommending anything (not upselling you a package because it's the one on the price list)

• Writing or overseeing the messaging, copy and brand voice that sits behind everything else

• Bringing in trusted specialists for the bits outside my own remit — paid ads, PR, design, development — so you get senior-level work without hiring five different people

• Staying involved as one consistent point of contact, so nothing gets lost in translation between suppliers

Where this is different from an agency:

you're not getting handed off to an account manager who then briefs a junior team you never speak to. You're working directly with the person doing the strategic thinking.

Where this is different from a freelancer:

if your project needs something outside their skillset, most freelancers either turn it down or have a go anyway. A consultant with a network doesn't have that ceiling; the work still gets done to a high standard, just by the right person.

If you've ever hired someone for marketing and ended up doing more managing than they saved you time on, this is the version that's supposed to fix that.

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